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The Daylight Cave
This is for The Story Challenge. Chapter I I open my eyes, but see nothing. I only smell the stale air of the cave and feel the hard stone beneath my paws, and in the distance I hear what sounds like a small stream nearby. In fact, that 'small stream' is actually a distant river somewhere in the massive cave system all around me. In all my moons here, I haven't found it yet. That's right, everyone. I've been here for 20 moons. At least, I think it's twenty moons. I don't actually know because I've been outside this cave system and so I can't keep track of the time. The only reason I even know about the sun, stars, and moon is because of one cat who refuses to tell me her name. Every now and then she talks about things from the 'outside world' but then disappears, so maybe all it's all a lie. Maybe. Anyways, as I stood up and stretched, I could hear something hit the ground nearby. I knew that it was prey falling from somewhere above. It always came around the time that I woke up, and I figured that it must be the same cat who comes and talks to me. But this time, it sounds a lot louder. It doesn't seem very familiar. And this kind of thing intrigues me a lot. Because I've been here for so long, I know what pretty much everything is like, and since there's suddenly a change, I have to investigate. I begin to walk over to the cave where the prey is always dropped, and now I can hear something else. It sounds like... breathing. It's heavy a quick. Whatever just fell has no intentions of being quiet, and for a second I wonder if the prey isn't dead yet before realizing that the breathing is too loud and heavy for it to be prey. I'm now tense, unsure of what is in that cave. Then, I hear the scrabbling of paws on the rough stone floor and a grunt as the thing stands up. Then I realize that the thing is a cat. Fear is beginning to collect in my mind. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before, and I'm not sure what to do. Instinctively but slowly, I take a few steps backwards, not that it'll help, as it is completely dark in here and I cannot see anything. "Hello?" A tom voice calls out from the cave. Whoever it is takes a few steps towards me. At this point I'm so tense I think I might snap. I'm ready to spring out of the way should anything happen, ready to run for an entire moon. "A-are you there? I just want to talk..." I relax a little bit. Whoever is in the cave takes a few steps forwards, and I can tell that they're only about 5 fox-lengths away. I feel braver now, so I try to ask, "Who are you?" but it only comes out as a whisper. It was quiet, yet loud enough that the cat in front of me springs back. "I-I am Acornheart. You're Ella, right?" Ella? I wonder. Who's Ella? I never had a name, so maybe I was called Ella by others. So I played along, answering, "I'm Ella, yes. Why are you here?" If I knew that this was the cat I had heard from before, the cat that told me things, then I wouldn't have asked. But it's obvious that this is not the same cat. "I told you," the cat said. "I want to talk to you." "About what?" I asked. "Outside." "I already know about outside. The other cat told me." "Well... You see, I want to talk about going outside." Chapter II I'm stunned. I've heard so much about outside, but I always figured that there's a reason why I can't leave these caves. "A-are you serious?" "Yes. I... I want to take you outside. But Brooksong can't know." Brooksong? That must be the other cat that talks to me. But all these names are so weird... "Why not?" "He wouldn't allow it. I'm not supposed to take you outside, but..." I don't completely trust Acornheart, but I'm extremely eager to see outside of these caves. I've been told that you can see colors other than black, though I don't even know of any colors other than black because I've never been in the light. I know the names of all the colors, but I've never actually seen them. So I ask, "So... How do we get out of here?" "Brooksong uses a special hidden passage near the river." "Where is the river?" "You don't know?!" "It's the only thing I haven't found. in these caves yet." I can hear Acornheart's breathing increase. "Oh, StarClan!" She exclaims. "Brooksong's going to kill me!" StarClan? What's that? I wonder, confused. "We have to find the river before sunrise, or Brooksong will come and find me!"